Local man is director of the Super Bowl

Thursday

It’s taken two years of preparation for Tampa to get ready for the largest sports party in the world — Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII — and the man behind the curtain is one of Hendersonville’s own.

It’s taken two years of preparation for Tampa to get ready for the largest sports party in the world — Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII — and the man behind the curtain is one of Hendersonville’s own.Reid Sigmon, who graduated from East Henderson High School in 1992, was named the 2009 Super Bowl executive director back in March of 2007. Since then he’s been working non-stop to make sure the city of Tampa puts on one of the best Super Bowls ever.“We’ve had tremendous community support, and everything has come together,” Sigmon, 34, said Wednesday from his Tampa office after getting off the phone with an interview by NBC Nightly News. “For this week, the teams have finally arrived, and the events are actually occurring. It’s a great feeling.”It’s been a lot of dedication and hard work, and in just three short days, all of that time and effort will be put on display for the world to see when Arizona and Pittsburgh take the field.An estimated 140 million Americans will watch the game, with around 800 million fans from across the globe tuning in.There are also more than 4,500 credentialed media representing media outlets from 28 different countries. Sigmon said despite the slumping economy, this year’s Super Bowl will provide a positive impact.

Keeping tabs with his hometownDuring his high school years, Sigmon lettered in four sports — football, soccer, tennis and swimming.His senior year, the Eagles football team advanced to the third round of the state playoffs, and he was the starting placekicker.“I made all-conference that year. It’s kind of funny... I keep in touch with coach (Brett) Chappell, because he was playing at Rosman the same time I was at East. He broke our record this season,” Sigmon said. “Before this year, we could always say that we went the farthest in the playoffs than any other East team. We can’t say that anymore.”Sigmon said since he doesn’t get to make it back to Hendersonville as often as he’d like, he keeps watch of his old football team through BlueRidgeNow.com, the Times-News Web site.“I check it at least once a week. It’s a great way for me to see what’s going on in my hometown. After reading about the Eagles this year, all I can say is that Michael Robinson is an incredible player,” he said.

His dutiesWhen Tampa Bay hired him to take on the role back in 2007, the city knew it found the right man.“Reid Sigmon is an experienced pro that knows his way around a Super Bowl,” Frank Supovitz, senior vice president of special events for the NFL, said when Sigmon was hired. “We are delighted to be working with such a talented and motivated partner.”Sigmon’s responsibilities included ensuring that the proper infrastructure was in place to produce the high level event; coordinating hotels transportation and security detail; organizing numerous Super Bowl Host Committee special events; generating sufficient sponsorships; meeting fundraising goals and ensuring the community was prepared to host Super Bowl XLIII.

Not his first Super BowlAfter graduating from East, Sigmon earned an academic scholarship to Wake Forest.“I knew I wanted to go into sports management, and I always pictured myself doing that at the collegiate level,” he said.He was the backup placekicker for the Demon Deacons and actually got to start in his final game as a senior.“I had to kick a field goal in that game, and I made it,” he said.After graduation from Wake, he stayed for a couple of years at the university working in the athletic department.“Then in 1999, my boss at the college was hired to run the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Tampa, and I was the assistant director. After that, we were both hired to work for Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa,” Sigmon said. “Coming out of college, I would’ve never foreseen myself working at the Super Bowl.”After earning his master’s degree from Florida University, he was hired as the vice president of operations for the Jacksonville Super Bowl XXXIX Host Committee. Following the 2005 game, Sigmon went to work for the Cleveland Browns as director of stadium development and event operations prior to landing his current job.

Looking for ‘another opportunity’After Sunday’s game is over, Sigmon’s job will move on.“Once the game’s over, that’s about it,” Sigmon said. “I will be looking for a new job starting in the spring.”After his past two Super Bowl stints, he’s been hired for other sports management positions.“I’ve been lucky. I’ve been through this before, but there’s definitely some uncertainty,” he said. “As for now, I have more media requests. I just talked with the New York Times, and now I’m getting ready to talk with a paper in England, I think. It’s been a busy week.”

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